49ers Expect Kyle Juszczyk to Miss Two to Three Games With Knee Injury

Kyle Juszczyk is expected to miss multiple weeks for the San Francisco 49ers after suffering a knee injury during the team’s Week 4 win over the Denver Broncos, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter as reported by Pro Football Rumors. The 49ers fullback role is built around short-yardage run support, pass protection assignments, and timing in the passing game, so his absence carries immediate practical consequences for how San Francisco functions on offense.

The injury evaluation, per the report, included an MRI that indicated Juszczyk suffered a bone bruise and a sprain. The expected timeline is a shutout of two to three games, which fits the range generally associated with tissue irritation and bone bruising rather than a season-ending setback. Still, the club will likely have to manage his workload carefully if he returns before symptoms fully settle.

For a team that often uses Juszczyk to create consistent run concepts and to stabilize the back end of the play when protection breaks down, even a brief absence can force adjustments. In San Francisco’s personnel groupings, the fullback is not just a spot on the depth chart, he is part of how play-action and inside-zone sequences are timed, and how the offense handles late-game defensive fronts.

The Broncos game is a key detail here, because it places the injury squarely in the current stretch of the season rather than an offseason issue. When injuries originate from a specific contest, teams typically re-evaluate his participation practice by practice, with clearance tied to pain tolerance, range of motion, and ability to execute his blocking and receiving responsibilities without limitations.

San Francisco now faces the immediate roster and scheme question of how to fill the fullback production gap. Even if the 49ers maintain similar personnel groupings, the substitute plan has to account for blocking technique, assignments in pass protection, and the ability to sustain role clarity across different formations. Those factors often determine whether a team can keep third-down efficiency and goal-line execution at its usual level.

What to watch next is how the 49ers distribute fullback snaps in the coming games and whether the coaching staff leans more heavily on alternative personnel packages. If the reported two-to-three-game expectation holds, the next checkpoint will be whether Juszczyk can return without a recurrence of symptoms, since bone bruises can linger and sprains can fluctuate during high-intensity practice.